


finally

by hpmara



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M, Marauders Era (Harry Potter)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-12
Updated: 2021-03-09
Packaged: 2021-03-12 11:08:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,774
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29383941
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hpmara/pseuds/hpmara
Summary: in which arabella ryans thought her relationship with her best friend, remus lupin, was just platonicorin which remus lupin realizes his best friend, arabella ryans, could be more than a best friend[marauders era][remus lupin x oc]
Relationships: James Potter/Lily Evans Potter, Remus Lupin/Original Female Character(s)
Comments: 2
Kudos: 3





	1. prologue

**Author's Note:**

> i will be posting all of my chapters, that i have so far, onto here from wattpad! my wattpad user is @myloverdraco if you would prefer to read it on there. i just decided to post on here as well cause i heard some fanfics on wattpad are being deleted. (but as of now i am posting on both!)

March 20th, 1971

Arabella and her family had recently moved to Yorkshire for her father's work. He had been working at the Ministry of Magic for a couple of years now. Although he hadn't experienced anything bad, he wanted to be a good distance away just in case anything were to happen. Arabella was quite upset about the move given the fact she was only ten and had a bunch of friends where they used to live. She began to unpack her clothes that she had folded very neatly in her trunk. She also started taking out her hundreds of books that she had and started placing them onto her bookshelf that was already in her room. Arabella loved reading and tried to read at least two books per week. Her mother would take her to the nearest muggle library so she could return her books and pick out some new ones to read. She loved going to muggle libraries because she was so amazed by all of the variates of stories.

Besides reading all the time, Arabella was very athletic. She had always loved running outside in the meadows next to her house, and she especially loved it when her father would take her to the Quidditch World Cup. 

One day as Arabella was running around in her front yard, she noticed a boy sitting under a tree, reading a book. Arabella hadn't yet made friends since it had only been a week since they moved in. She decided to walk over and sit down next to him. As she sat down, he looked up from his book and glanced at her. He had bruises all over his arms and a cut going down his cheek.

"Hey, whatcha reading?" Arabella asked, with a soft and gentle tone. The boy looked at her, then fixed his eyes back to his book.

"I'm Arabella by the way. Arabella Ryans. But my friends used to call me Ara."

"Oh, um I'm Remus Lupin." the boy said, finally putting his book down.

"Nice to meet you, Remus!" she exclaimed, with a smile drawn across her face. "So I'm guessing you like to read?"

"Yeah. You?"

"Yeah, I love reading! I have over a hundred in my room right now. Want to check them out?" she asked.

"Uh, yeah sure!" Remus replied. The two, headed over to Arabella's house and opened the door. Standing at the kitchen counter was Arabella's mother, Jean. Arabella walked over to her mother, introduced Remus, then guided him upstairs. When they entered her room, Remus' face lit up in excitement at the bookshelf filled from top to bottom, with books of all kinds. Arabella took his hand and walked over towards the shelf and sat down.

"Have you ever read any of these?" Arabella pointed to her favorite series.

"Yeah! That's my favorite series" Remus exclaimed.

"No way! Me too!"

The two talked about all of the books they have read and which ones they liked the most when Arabella's mother called her down for dinner.

"Would you want to stay for supper?" she asked.

"Sure, let me go ask my folks" he answered delightfully. He went down the stairs and ran over to his house. He then came back moments later with a smile on his face.

"I'm allowed!" he said, running up to Arabella, who was sitting on her front porch waiting for him to come back over. They sat down and had their dinner, which Remus seemed to enjoy, looking at his plate he licked clean within five minutes.

❍❍❍

July 28th, 1971

Remus and Arabella became really good friends over the next four months and started doing everything together. They went to the library together, played outside together, and even had dinner with each other's families every Wednesday. Today though was a special day. It was Arabella's eleventh birthday. She was so excited because that meant she would hopefully be getting a Hogwarts letter if she was accepted. She was a little upset thinking about if she did end up getting in, she would have to leave her best friend until she returned for the summer.

Arabella was inside helping her dad go through the old post when all of a sudden their owl had flown through the open window and landed on the table. In its mouth was a cream-colored parchment with a red wax seal. On the front, it read "Ms A, Ryans." Arabella took the letter out of the owl's mouth and started opening it excitedly. She had been waiting all day for her letter and it finally came. She was going to Hogwarts!

At dinner that night, she was trying not to show that she was upset because she didn't want to tell Remus just yet, that she would only be here in the summer for the next seven years. Her father started talking about random things and then mentioned Hogwarts. Remus' head perked up and he looked very alarmed.

"What's wrong Remus?" Arabella asked him concerningly.

"Did you say you got into Hogwarts? Like Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry?" he questioned.

"Yes, but I wasn't wanting you to find out this way. I wanted to tell you but I wasn't sure how and I-" Arabella was cut off by Remus.

"I was accepted too!" he proclaimed, his cheeks bursting with joy.

Arabella got up and hugged Remus as tightly as she could, now feeling relieved that she would be able to go to school with him.

Remus then looked out the window and let go of Arabella frantically. He looked like he was trying to hold something back. He ran out of the house and started towards his. Arabella ran after him and grabbed his arm. His eyes were getting darker, and he clenched his jaw.

"Remus, what's wrong?"

"I have to go Ara, I can't be out here right now, it's not safe for you!" he said trying to release his arm from Arabella's grip.

"What's going on? Please, tell me!"

"I'm a werewolf alright! And it's a full moon so Ara you need to go. Now!"

"No." she said firmly, taking a step back from Remus. He started to get hairier by the second, his teeth grew sharper, his ears grew larger, and his clothes ripped from his body. She started tingling her fingers and shaking her legs, trying to prepare herself for what she hadn't done in what felt like years. She closed her eyes and as Remus had fully turned into his werewolf state, Arabella shrunk into a small white creature. An arctic fox.

❍❍❍

As the sun started to rise, and the moon went down, she looked over to where Remus had fallen. He was bruised all over and had a gash in his leg. Arabella turned back into herself and rushed over to him. Remus' face shocked, at what he just saw his best friend do.

"She did that for me?" he thought to himself.

Arabella put his arm around her shoulder and tried her best to get him into her house as quickly as she could. She laid him on the couch and called for her mother. Her mother was a Healer and had dealt with many injuries and wounds like this, so she went over to help Remus before asking what happened.

"Are you two alright?" she asked while dabbing one of his wounds with a wet cloth. She then took out her wand and all of his bruises and cuts were gone. Remus sat up and turned to Arabella.

"You're a fox?" he asked astonishedly. Arabella's mother looked at her and nodded.

"Well I'm an animagus." she started. "When I was eight, my mother had me become a registered animagus, just in case anything bad happened and I needed to escape someplace or hide from someone."

"So you did that last night?"

"Yeah and you didn't hurt me, which I thought you would." she realized. "Maybe because I was another animal and you didn't feel threatened? Either way, at least now I know why you're always bloodied up and bruised. Why didn't you tell me?"

"I didn't want to hurt you. Besides I thought you might think of me different." Remus put his head down and looked down at his hands.

"Honestly, I think it's pretty cool," Arabella explained, placing her gentle hand on his shoulder. "And I can help you through them like I did just last night."

❍❍❍

September 1st, 1971

Finally, the day had arrived, they were going to Hogwarts. Arabella and Remus had gone to Diagon Alley at the end of summer, to get all of the things they needed for school, including books, robes, cauldrons, and their very own pets. Remus had gotten a Barn Owl named Star, and Arabella got a Siamese cat named Octavia.

When they got to Kings Cross Station, they walked up to platforms 9 and 10. They looked down at their tickets in confusion. Where was their platform?

"Mum, where is platform 9 3/4?" Arabella looked over to her mom, holding up her Hogwarts Express ticket.

"Oh dear, I forgot to tell you. You have to run through the barrier between nine and ten." 

Arabella and Remus looked at each other then back to her mother in shock. "We're supposed to run...at the wall?" Arabella replied, still surprised. Her mother nodded and walked the two closer to the barrier. They got positioned and Arabella's mother gave her a kiss on the cheek, then walked over to Remus and gave him one as well.

"Ready?" Remus asked Arabella.

"I guess"

"Alright. Three...two... one!" They both ran towards the wall, Remus in front of Arabella. As they went through the barrier, Arabella felt a sudden warm feeling overcome her body. As she and Remus turned the corner, there it was, Hogwarts Express.

Once they got settled in their compartment, a boy with brown, messy hair, and round glasses walked in, with a smaller blonde boy right behind him. They took the two empty seats, one next to Arabella and one right across from her, next to Remus.

"Hey," the brown-haired boy started. "I'm James and this is Pete"

"Peter" the blonde boy corrected. He seemed like a shy boy, while James had more of a confident persona. He looked very put together but laid back at the same time.

"I'm Arabella" she responded with a smile.

"I'm Remus" Remus added. He was sitting next to Peter with his owl on the other side of him. Arabella looked out of the train window and saw a beautiful meadow of blue, yellow, and red flowers. As she turned her head back towards the boys, a boy with shoulder length, black hair, glanced into their compartment while walking past, as if he was looking for something. He stopped and walked backward still looking into the compartment, and slid open the door.

"Mind if I sit with you guys? Everyone keeps tellin' me they have no room." he questioned, stepping in and out of the compartment, to make room for the groups of kids walking by.

"Sure! Come on in" Arabella waved her arm. "You can sit here" she pointed to the spot right between her and James. She scooted over a bit to make room for him. When he sat down his attention went straight to James' quidditch magazine he had been reading.

"Oi," he began, "I've got that same one in my trunk next to all of my vinyls." he said with his finger pointed at the magazine. "I'm Sirius Black by the way."

"I'm James Potter. This is just one of my magazines. I've got loads more, back home. I've been collecting them for as long as I can remember." he told. James seemed to like quidditch and that made Arabella quite happy, knowing that that's one thing she really enjoyed as well. Remus wasn't much into quidditch. He had a fear of heights. One day when they were out in the grass field, Arabella had finally convinced him to climb a tree with her, and as soon as they both got halfway, he puked right down the side of the tree.

"I love quidditch" Arabella blurted.

"Me too!" James said with a wide smile.

"Cheers!" Sirius agreed. Remus let out a small chuckle. Arabella turned to Remus with a raised eyebrow and a smirk on her face. "I'm not riding a bloody broom" Remus answered before Arabella could say anything.

"Oh come on Remus," she whined. "It'd be so much fun! And besides, you're going to have to face your fear sooner or later"

"I said I'm not getting on a broom" he repeated. Arabella knew Remus was a little scared from the incident with the tree, but she wanted him to be able to play quidditch when they got to Hogwarts.

"Yeah, mate! It's so much fun, and I heard we have flying classes each week!" James said excitedly.

The train stopped and all of the kids were filing out of the compartments. Arabella got up and waved her hand, "Come on, let's go!"

❍❍❍

They entered the Great Hall, McGonagall leading them to the front, where they would be sorted. Arabella, hoping she would be put into Gryffindor or Ravenclaw, had been called to go first. She wasn't sure why, but she was nervous. As long as she didn't get into Slytherin she would be fine, but the anticipation was eating her alive. She stepped up to the stool and sat down. As McGonagall placed the hat on her head she heard a voice in her ear. "Ah, Arabella, I've been waiting for you...GRYFFINDOR!" Arabella's heart dropped to her stomach in joy and felt a sense of relief come over her. As she walked over to the Gryffindor table, everyone was clapping and cheering. She took her seat next to the second year's and looked back up at the front of the room to see who would be sorted next. Remus. He sat on the stool and the hat started. "Ah, where to put you? Hm, I know," Arabella crossed her fingers under the table and closed her eyes tight, hoping he would be put in the same house. "GRYFFINDOR!" the hat proclaimed. He came over to the table, and Arabella hugged him tightly.

James and Sirius had been put into Gryffindor minutes later, leaving Peter as the last person to be sorted. He looked very pale, now standing up there by himself.

"I wonder what house Pete's gonna be in? He's one timid bloke" James whispered. Peter walked up towards the hat. Arabella could tell he was nervous. The hat stalled for five minutes before yelling "GRYFFINDOR!" He walked over and joined the other four.

After Dumbledore made a speech, thousands of plates of food appeared in front of their eyes. The boys immediately grabbed one of each entree, along with a huge plate for all of the sides. Arabella wasn't that hungry so she only took a sliver of ham and a small portion of potatoes. Once they all finished their meals, they were led to their common room by the Gryffindor Prefect, Frank Longbottom. When they got to the top of the moving staircase, they came up to a portrait of a Fat Lady. Frank said a word, that Arabella didn't quite hear, and the portrait swung open, leading them into a cozy room with a red couch, and two armchairs. Frank showed everyone their dorms, and Arabella met her dorm mates, Lily Evans, Marlene McKinnon, and Evelyn Jane.

"I'm so excited! Aren't you all?" Lily said with a perky tone. 

"Yeah, I'm so excited!" Marlene replied. 

"Me too!" Arabella added. Arabella was unpacking her trunk, when her cat, Octavia, jumped up onto her bed.

"She's so precious!" Evelyn walked over to Octavia and pet her on her head. Arabella smiled. She walked over to the door and opened it to Sirius, Remus, and James in the midst of knocking.

"What are you lot doing?" Arabella laughed.

"We wanted you to come down to the common room." Remus said putting his hand down from the knocking position. "I was just on my way down there" Arabella closed the door and walked past the boys down the stairs. Arabella went to sit in an armchair, when Sirius then slipped behind her and sat down on the chair, giving her an innocent smirk. Arabella rolled her eyes and sat next to Remus and James on the couch.

"So what's the first prank we're doing?" James asked.

"I'm sorry?"

"What's our first prank going to be?" James repeated. Remus looked at him in disbelief, "You're joking, right?" Sirius perked up, "Mate, this is going to be the best year ever!" Arabella rolled her eyes with a smile. "P-pranks?" Peter said with a shaky voice. They all started laughing.


	2. one

September 1st, 1975

{fifth year}

Arabella and Remus said goodbye to Arabella's mother, as they got onto the train. It was the start of their fifth year, and they were very thrilled. They couldn't wait to see James, Sirius, and Peter. Over the last four years at Hogwarts, all five of them had become very close. They were always with each other, whether that was in the common room just hanging out, in the library studying for exams or just aimlessly walking through the corridors after classes. They were also very mischievous. Arabella loved doing pranks as a child, but could never do anything too big, not wanting to get in too much trouble with her parents. At the end of their first year, one of their greatest pranks gave them their name. _The Marauders_.

James, Sirius, and Peter found out about Remus' condition at the beginning of second year. They were very supportive of Remus and it didn't really change how they saw him, just like Arabella when she found out. They hadn't questioned why Arabella went with him either, until the end of second year, when they snuck out to follow her, Remus, Professor McGonagall, and Madam Pomfrey to the Shrieking Shack. The three boys watched behind a small bush, as Arabella and Professor McGonagall took form into their animagi to tame the Whomping Willow. The next day, early in the morning, while Remus was in the Hospital Wing, Arabella was greeted by them when she walked into the common room. She had to admit to it, seeing as they saw her change into an arctic fox right in front of their eyes.

The next few years were pretty much the same. They pulled pranks (mainly on the Slytherin house or Severus Snape), got detentions; for those pranks, studied for exams, and played quidditch. Arabella, James, and Sirius were the only ones out of the Marauders to try out for quidditch in their second year. They all made the team and got the positions they tried out for. Sirius was a Beater, along with Marlene McKinnon, and James and Arabella were Chasers.

They walked down the corridor of the train, looking for an open compartment. They walked past one and saw Lily sitting with Snape and two other Slytherin boys. When she saw Arabella and Remus, she jumped up out of her seat and slid the door open.

"Ara! Remus! How was your guys' summer?" she said in her usual sweet, perky tone. Her hair was perfectly curled in a half-up, half-down style with a white ribbon. She already had her robes on and they were neatly tucked in, as always.

"Lily! It was great how was yours?"

"It was great! Remus, how was yours?" she asked in a softer voice. Lily found out about Remus being a werewolf, and Arabella being an animagus, in second year as well. Sirius, James, and Peter had all been asking Remus and Arabella questions in their dorm room. Sirius had performed a silencing charm, but apparently Lily had been coming up the steps, so when he did it she was in close enough proximity, that she could still hear them talking.

"It was alright I guess" Remus shrugged. He didn't really like talking to her about it, since she was friends with Snape. All the Marauders disliked Snape with a passion. Arabella peered into a compartment one up from where Lily was sitting and saw James, Sirius, and Peter.

"Remus up here!" Arabella motioned her hand as she walked in.

"Ara! Remus!"

"Hey, guys! Sorry I didn't write to you much this summer. Mother took away Reggie's owl cause she found out I was using it." Sirius sighed. His family had been angry with him for not being in Slytherin ever since first year. His mother took away his owl, so he used Remus' while they were at school, and he used his brother, Regulus', at home; when he wasn't locked in his room.

"Oi! Sirius you should've just stayed with me mate." James said sympathetically. "My parents said you could if you needed somewhere else to go." James' parents were very kind people. In third and fourth year, during the winter Holidays, James invited everyone over to his house for Christmas Eve. His mother had cooked a huge dinner for all five of them, and they had the best night, laughing and thinking of new pranks for the upcoming year.

Arabella sat down, in the middle of James and Peter. James got up and pulled down a long black case from where they all had put their trunks. Arabella had recognized the case because she got the same exact one for Christmas.

"Is that a-"

"Nimbus 1000? It sure is! Got it from father on Boxing Day!" James exclaimed, pulling the sleek-looking broom out of its case. Arabella was gifted one from her mother and father, for how hard she had been working, in and out of school. She was so excited to use it in the upcoming quidditch season. 

❍❍❍

When they arrived, all five of them went straight to the common room to get settled before the feast. Sirius didn't have much stuff other than his clothes, mainly because his parents had taken almost all of his things away. But, he still managed to hide his record player and records in his trunk. He pulled it out and set it on his side table. Arabella came up to the open door and leaned against the doorway. Remus cleared his throat, "Sirius play it." he nodded his head towards the vinyl laying on the end of the bed.

"Got it!" Sirius winked at Arabella. He placed the vinyl onto the turntable and put the turn arm down on the record. Arabella's favorite song started playing, _All the Young Dudes._ Arabella rolled her eyes and smiled, "Where did you get that?" she questioned. The song was by a muggle band that Remus introduced her to in their second year. Remus' mother had many records of her own, being a muggle-born, and gave Remus some on his birthdays. 

"I got them from Andromeda over the summer. She had to send them through the muggle post since mother won't allow me to use the owls." Sirius explained while dancing through the dorm. They all began dancing and laughing. Remus with Arabella, and Sirius with James who had been pulled up from sitting on his bed. 

Lily walked up the stairs to the door, with arms crossed, and a furrowed brow, "Not to break up this lovely dance class, but we're going to miss the feast if you four don't hurry up!" They all stopped dancing and filed out of the dorm laughing, as Lily watched them, rolling her eyes with a smile.

At the feast, they all sat down and filled their plates with food. Arabella ate her usual, a slice of ham, a decent portion of potatoes, and a buttered biscuit. The boys stuffed their faces with food as if they haven't eaten in days. 

"So what is the next great prank going to be?" James asked, mouth full of turkey. 

"Let's start off small, then get bigger with each one"

"Yeah, and then we'll blame it all on the Slytherin's"

"Sounds good with me"

Lily turned her head and gave an annoyed look towards the boys, not putting Arabella in the stare. Lily never blamed Arabella for the pranks on Slytherin even though she was a part of them, and sometimes even thought of them. She always thought the boys did it in spite of Snape, which was true. Arabella didn't like him either. In third year, when Arabella was walking out of the girl's bathroom, Snape hexed her. He had used the _Capilliffindo_ hex, which instantly shaved off her hair until she went bald. Arabella felt her head and pulled out her wand. Severus noticed and disarmed her. She started screaming and yelling at him until he eventually used the silencing charm on her, which made her temporarily mute. She ran for her wand, undid the silencing charm, and yelled " _Petrificus Totalus_ " causing Snape to freeze up and fall to the ground, motionless. She ran back to the common room not making eye contact with any of the boys or Lily when she entered. When they asked her what happened, she muttered "Snape" in an angry tone. She despised Snape ever since, and Lily knew that. They all did.


	3. two

September 20th, 1975

It was Saturday morning and Arabella had been walking down the stairs, into the common room. She noticed her four fellow Marauders sitting on the floor and couch. She walked over, yawning, and sat next to Remus. He looked baffled and surprised, with his eyes bulging. Arabella looked at the other three boys with a confused look, as they all had wide smiles across their faces.

"First of all, what's up with him," Arabella started, "and what's up with you three?"

"Wanna tell her Moony?" James winked.

"Yeah you tell her Moons"

"Um right, right" he shook his head still looking quite shocked.

"Go on?" Arabella said with a furrowed brow.

"They are... he is... and he's a" Remus stuttered, not believing what he had just seen, minutes before Arabella came down.

"Oh come on Remus, spit it out!" Arabella proclaimed.

"James is a stag, Sirius is a dog, and Peter is a rat!" he blurted.

"What? You can't just call Pete a rat Remus!" Arabella scolded, not understanding what he meant.

"No, Ara. They're animagi!"

"They're what?" Arabella's yell echoed through the common room.

"Holy shit Ara! Go ahead and scream it to the whole school why don't you" James whispered in a snappy tone. Arabella couldn't believe what she had just heard. Her three friends had become animagi?

"May I just ask, why and how?" she asked.

"Well we did the whole process, you know what it's like since you're one too. And then we chose our forms, and BOOM, we did it." Peter replied.

"And we did it for Moony," Sirius added. "We wanted to be able to be there with him, since it's always just you, and you've come back a little scratched up sometimes Ara." he finished.

"Wait, I've hurt you before, Ara?" Remus interrupted.

"It was just little scratches, it's fine. Now back to you three. Are you even registered?"

"Um...nope." Sirius said with a nervous smile.

"Are you kidding me? You know you can be sent to Azkaban right?" Arabella's voice echoed in the common room once more.

"Ara, keep it down would you, we don't need a teacher hearing you all the way from the Great Hall!"

"Okay, okay sorry. Well, show me then." she gestured her hands, giving them the floor.

"Not here, are you crazy? We don't want someone to see." James whispered, "Let's go out to the Whomping Willow, where Moony goes for the full moons."

They all walked out to the Whomping Willow, and Arabella walked up closer, about to turn into her animagus, before she felt James hold her back. She turned around and looked at him confused. "I have to stop it"

"Just wait," Sirius added. With that, right before Arabella's eyes, Peter had transformed into a small brown rat. He ran up to the tree and looked back at Arabella. "Just touch the black part of the bark" she informed Pete. He placed his hand on the part Arabella told him to touch, and the tree had calmed itself. Then out of the corner of her eye, she saw James and Sirius changing as well. She turned around, and there, standing in front of her was a tall brown stag and a black dog.

"Wow," Arabella said amazed. "Going to have to get used to this." she said shaking her head in disbelief that they actually did it.  
  
  


❍❍❍

October 2nd, 1975

The first month of fifth year had passed fairly quickly for Arabella. She was thoroughly enjoying her new classes this term and was getting great marks on her assessments. But one thing she and two of her fellow _Marauders_ were looking forward to was Quidditch tryouts. In previous years, Arabella, James, and Sirius had all made the team with the positions they wanted. Arabella had been a chaser alongside James, and Sirius was a beater. They had been playing together ever since second year and even won the school league in third and fourth year.

The common room was buzzing that morning, with it being the quidditch tryouts. Everyone who had been on the team previously was looking to try out for their same positions, along with the second year's who could now try out. Arabella, James, and Sirius were all sitting on the couch going over plays they had been reviewing over the summer. James sent Peter into the hall to grab them all breakfast, so they wouldn't waste any time. They had been going over drills and preparing themselves all morning. They did this every year. Going into the tryouts as if it was their first year, wanting to make the best impression, although everyone knew they were good.

As Arabella, James, and Sirius walked out onto the pitch, Arabella caught a glimpse of Remus sitting in the stands with Peter, Lily, and Evelyn. She never really got nervous when people watched her play or tryout, but today was slightly different. As they headed over towards the other Gryffindor's, Arabella felt a sudden wave of nerves overcome her. She tried to get her mind off of it, but for some reason, knowing Remus was in the stands was wrenching her thoughts. She wasn't sure why seeing as he had been to every tryout and game since they made the team in second year.

They were separated into groups based on positions. Arabella and James went with the rest of the Chasers, while Sirius went with the Beaters, along with Marlene. They mounted their brooms and flew into the air. Arabella felt good being back on the pitch, even if it was for tryouts.

The Gryffindor's trying out for the spot of Chasers and Seekers were divided into two lines for a drill. The drill would test their flying ability, and how fast they could get from one end of the pitch to the other, whilst trying to beat the person in the opposite line. Of course, Arabella and James went to the front of the two lines so they could go up against one another. The two, plus Sirius, were very competitive with each other and were always competing to be the best player of each match. They got ready, and when the Gryffindor quidditch captain blew the whistle, they were off! James took the lead as they started. Halfway down the pitch, Arabella caught up, and they were neck and neck. Arabella pushed as hard as she could the last stretch of the way, and beat James by an inch. From the stands, Remus started cheering her on along with Sirius, who was below her with the other beaters.

"Why thank you!" Arabella bowed on her broom in a sarcastic manner. She noticed James looking at her with a very blank face, and his arms crossed. "Oh don't worry James, you'll get me next time." Arabella winked and went back to the line to continue the drill. James and Arabella hadn't gone up against each other again until the very end of tryouts, where they had to fight against each other to get the Quaffle.

When the tryouts were over, they entered the locker room. As they were taking off their quidditch robes, Marlene walked up to Arabella with a wide smile on her face.

"What's got you all giddy?" Arabella questioned, placing her robes into a basket for the house elves to later wash.

"I overheard the captains," Marlene replied with an even wider smile stretched across her face.

"And?" Arabella raised her eyebrows in concern.

"I may or may not have heard who is most likely making the team!" she blurted.

"Who? Marlene tell me this instant!"

"Alright, I definitely heard a Potter in the conversation,"

"Okay, that one's obvious. Continue."

"I heard Sirius' name and mine, for Beaters again, and you for a Chaser again!" Marlene proclaimed. The rest of the Gryffindor girls who had been in the locker room as well, all sighed in losing their hopes, now that half the team was practically already chosen.

"Merlin! That's great Marls," Arabella exclaimed. "We have to go tell the boys!"

They got dressed in their uniforms and robes and left the locker rooms for the Great Hall. When they got there the boys were already sitting down, stuffing their faces after the tiring evening of tryouts. When they sat down, Remus smiled at Arabella handing her an already made plate of her usual.

"Wasn't sure if you were as starving as the boys were, so I put a little more on your plate." he said, grabbing food for his own plate. Although they had just got done with two hour's worth of tryouts, Arabella hadn't felt that hungry.

"Marlene, tell the boys what you heard the captains say"

"Oh, right," Marlene said wiping the pumpkin juice from her lips. "I heard the captains say James and Ara will be Chasers again this year, and Sirius and I will be Beaters again." she finished. The boys celebrated by making a toast and chugging their pumpkin juice, whilst Remus and Peter were cheering and clapping.

"Nice job, Ara" Remus winked with a tender smile.

"Thanks, Rem" she replied, joining in on the two boys' toast.

"Well it might not be for sure," Lily started, "They might have just been talking about who there was."

"Oi Lily, way to ruin the celebration." James replied.


End file.
